The Rise of Fundamentalism and the Progessive church’s response in a Spiritual but Not Religious World

           In looking at the more recent history of the Christian church, we can learn a lot and improve on what the Fundamentalist Conservative church has done. The Fundamentalist movement was one of the biggest movements of the 20^th Century and has shaped the church in a major way. This movement formed in response to societal and intellectual pressures on both the church and the Scriptures It was formed in reaction to the supposed modernist movement of culture of the time, whether that was the earliest 20^th century or the 1980’s. This movement was shaped by pietism, or the emphasis on the emotional reaction to God over the intellectual reaction to God; therefore any ideas of thoughts contrary to the words of scripture were viewed with disdain. It was also very reactionary in general, in a way to pull the church away from the extreme liberalization and modernization of the church.

This movement has also shaped the post- modern landscape of the Christian church.  The Fundamentalist church has also made decisions that have caused a large number of Christians to become increasingly disenfranchised from the church. Therefore, it is important that the progressive/moderate respond in such a way that opens up dialogue with those marginalized by the Conservative Fundamentalist church. Therefore, it is important the progressive churches to understand from the Fundamentalist movement, but also improves discourse with those disenfranchised. Whether that means to take a stand on more progressive issues, and not lose our voice , but also to advocate for the embracing of both science and faith, because that is seen as important to so many in today’s world.

            In the early 20^th century, many people were going away to school, and learning about the theories of evolution and higher biblical criticism. This left their traditional parents at home somewhat terrified when they would come home believing more about Evolution and Darwinism than in the traditional Genesis creation story, and their parents were of course terrified because of their  supposed dismissal of the Genesis account and the basic theological education they had received while at home. There was also the growth of higher biblical criticism which in their minds was the cause of this increasing awareness of more liberal expressions

According to Linder,

“ Evolution appeared destined to triumph without another major battle—at least not as to the fact of evolution, as opposed to the mechanism by which it occurs, which remained a topic of debate. In theological circles, the rage was “higher criticism,” an approach to determining scriptural meaning by looking at the socio-historical setting of its writers.  The Bible contained important messages, these theologians said, but no serious person can any longer pretend that the Bible, for example, provided an accurate guide to world history.  Literalism seemed headed for virtual extinction”(paragraph 1).

            The teaching of evolution and higher biblical criticism was seen to be taking the forefront in the culture as a whole. With this rise of modern culture in the world, the church was scared of the repercussions. They saw the rise of Modernism to be a major issue in the lives of not only the people of the church, but the world in general. They saw their response as important to the very life’s blood of the church. According to Menzies, “In the United States, Fundamentalism emerged about 1875, reaching the zenith of influence in the 1920’s. It grew out of a shared concern by Evangelical leaders, both church leaders and scholars for a means of responding to the alarming heavy erosion of basic theological scholarship, beliefs that were under heavy assault from liberal theological scholarship”(p.199).  

            There were several main contributors to the Fundamentalist movement of the early 20^th century. There was Charles Nelson Darby, Dwight L. Moody, and Charles Rigby. Each contributed to the movement in different ways. All of these people preached against beliefs and theories of Darwin and other scientists at the time. Charles Nelson Darby, founder of the Brethren movement, believed the bible was the beginning of Christian understanding in all things. According to Linder, “Darby insisted biblical prophesies provided “a sure guide to human history—past, present, and future.”  (GE, 27)   After having founded the movement three decades earlier in England, Darby traveled across the Atlantic six times between 1859 and 1874 to spread his doctrine of biblical inerrancy and the imminent return of Christ to establish the millennial kingdom. Everywhere he went, and in his fifty-three volumes of writings, Darby broadcast his message that the Bible represented the inspired, authoritative, faithfully transmitted, and infallible word of God”(paragraph 3). He believed that the scripture was not only basic in understanding, but it was the sole authority in spiritual matters. He believed in the eminent return of Christ was the reason for the church in the world.  There was also Dwight L. Moody, evangelist and founder of the Moody Bible Institute. According to Gonzalez, “Moody was a Chicago shoe salesman who was moved to act by the lack of religious life among the masses of that great city. He began bringing people to the Congregationalist church he attended, but soon founded an independent church” (p.33). Moody was a firm believer in the inerrancy of scripture. He believed that Genesis was foundational to understanding all of Christianity. According to Linder, “To say Moody took the Bible seriously is an understatement.  He rose at five o’clock every morning to engage in several hours of prayerful study of the book [the Bible].  He was especially interested in Genesis, offering the advice: “Spend six months studying Genesis; it is the key to the whole book.”  Although a careful study of the Bible, no one could call Moody a well-rounded reader.  His choice of books followed a simple rule.  “I do not read any book,” he said, “unless it helps me understand the Book” (paragraph 5).  

Another person who was important to the formation of Christian fundamentalism was William B. Riley. William B. Riley was a Baptist minister, and later called a “second Moody” by the press. According to Linder, “Riley’s distinctive brand of fundamentalism combined social activism, puritanical moralism, and a literalist premillennialist theology”(paragraph 8). Riley was also huge in the building of fundamentalism against both society pressures and higher biblical criticism. According to Linder, “Riley invented the label “fundamentalist” and became the prime mover in the movement that took that name.” (paragraph 10) Riley was instrumental in the forming the movement as a whole with the formation of WCFA (World Christian Fundamentalist Association), one of the largest and most influential groups of early fundamentalists.

            Although Riley’s movement was first reactionary to the movement of higher criticism, he soon believed that liberal leaders and theologians were more threatening to the Christian movement. According to Linder, “Although his Fundamentalist movement began as a reaction to the growing popularity of “higher criticism” (the view that the Bible is best understood in the distinct historical and cultural context which produced it), Riley soon identified the growing acceptance by modernist religious leaders of evolution as the infidelity most threatening to Christian values”(paragraph 12)

Scopes Monkey Trial

            One of the most foundational events of the Fundamentalist movement was the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. In it, after the Tennessee state legislature passed a law against the teaching of evolution in public schools. The American Civil Liberties Union sought to have a test case in Tennessee. The test case was found to occur in Dayton, when the biology teacher (who actually never remembered teaching evolution) was brought up for the teaching of evolution. According to Moran,

“In the 1920’s much of the fundamentalist discontent focused on the issue of evolution which supporters and detractors often labelled Darwinism. Participants in the crusades against evolution clearly aligned themselves with fundamentalist goals. Some fundamentalists, such as William Jennings Bryan denounced evolution for providing a rationale for warfare and buttressing what came to be known as Social Darwinism” (p. 98)

According to Gonzalez,

“The conflict between liberals and fundamentalists was exasperated in the post-war period. This was the time of the famous Scopes Trial, which symbolized the high point of the effort on the part of fundamentalists to ban the teaching of the evolution in public schools—an effort that in some quarters would continue into the twenty-first century. Almost all denominations were divided over the issue of fundamentalism—particularly the inerrancy of Scriptures, which by then had become a hall of fundamentalist orthodoxy.”(p. 476)

This case was eventually overturned on appeal, and given the scrutiny of people at the time on the state of Tennessee, no more teachers would tried for teaching evolution in the public schools. According to Menzies, “Following the famous Scopes Monkey Trial over the teaching of Evolution in schools in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925, Fundamentalism was publically humiliated and the movement retreated into defensive posture. For the next decades, fundamentalism languished in the thros of internal conflict” (p.199) 

After the Scopes Monkey trial, Fundamentalist Christianity retreated into more standard affair. They concentrated on not only revivals but Global missions. It wasn’t until the 1970’s and the election of Jimmy Carter that Christianity saw that given the right candidate they could unite under the banner of one candidate. This candidate who united the Religious Right was Ronald Reagan.   According to Lambert,

“The political influence of the Religious Right is surprising in light of the history of fundamentalists since the Scopes trial, when conservative evangelicals in general and fundamentalists in particular disengaged from politics. In part, they stayed on the sidelines because they believed that they should concentrate on other endeavors, such as evangelistic enterprises, including revivals and missions. They believed that it was more important to concern themselves with eternal salvation than with mundane politics. Yet at the same time it bothered them to watch American culture become captive to "secular humanism" in the period between 1925 and the mid-1970s. Public education at every level taught the nation's young people that science, not faith in God, held the key to human progress. Moreover, in the view of religious conservatives, the U.S. government seemed to be antagonistic to the Christian faith” (p. 188)

 This new Christian Right was gathered at a grassroots level in response to certain facets of secular culture and the world. These grassroots campaign was in reaction to an increase in divorces, the LGBT, and feminist movements. All of these movements galvanized the Religious Right, and greatly their responses to the issues have greatly come to affect the post-modern world.  According to Lambert,

“In the mid-1970’s, the wife of fundamentalist minister denounced most of the books adopted for English classes by the Kanawha County School board in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. She claimed the books were “disrespectful of the authority and religion, destructive of social and cultural values, obscene, pornographic, and unpatriotic or in violation of individual and familial rights of privacy” (p. 194)

Open Hearts Gathering, a more progressive church in a very conservative area, we believe that we can learn a lot by looking at the rise of the Fundamentalist movement. Firstly, we must learn not to concede our voice to the extreme Fundamentalist conservative party. Since the 1980’s there voice has been at the forefront of Christian thought of theology, power and agenda. Secondly, it is important that we not run away from the answers of science. We, as Christians, do not need to divide our heart thinking from our intellect. Both of these streams of consciousness can work together and inform each other. They accentuate each other and are not at war with one another and one does not need to cut off their intelligence to understand faith. They should and do magnify each other. The sciences answer question that faith and the people at the time of scripture could never have thought to imagine. Faith and Spirituality answer questions that science begins to answer, but there is a huge amount of grey area where both answers can inform human understanding of our world.

 In terms of LGBT issues for example, Progressives and moderate churches have to be more vocal. Not only in terms of being more vocal on spiritual issues but also political issues, standing up for what the Gospel truly says, not just the literal gospel but the spirit of the gospel that has been informed and not only filtered through our heart, but also our mind. When the spiritual but not religious crowd (the largest chunk being the twenty to thirty year olds, they see the church as not being in line with their beliefs on issues. They believe the church is not concentrating on what the Gospel really says. This has caused a large group of them to leave the church in general. The progressive church must have ethics that are engaging of the world in a new way compared to our fundamentalist predecessors. Our ethics must be those which concentrate on matters that are not considered “in people’s bedrooms”. Open Hearts Gathering has been very vocal in these issues. When North Carolina was debating the passage of Amendment One, Open Hearts Gathering was one of the only faith communities in Gastonia to speak out against it. Our minister at the time was the only to actually speak out on news station, which I applaud. This is just one example in the past where Open Hearts Gathering has been a very vocal voice to help say that Conservative Fundamentalist is not the only voice in the church.

We as progressive and moderate Christians do not only need to have a voice in every debate, but we need to speak as loudly and as often as needed. It is by the conceding of the Christian voice for the eighty years that has caused the Christian church to become dominated by the extremely Fundamentalist thought. It is also the yielding of the voice of progressives and moderates that has allowed for a whole generation of people to become disenfranchised from the Christian community as a whole. We also need to strengthen our voice by banding together with similar people of faith across denominational and other religions on these issues. This is where the true ecumenical work begins. It is through this ecumenical work that we can fully embrace the message of Christ and a view of Christ that we may share with even those in other Christian communities. Whether that is LGBT people, or the Spiritual but Not Religious people, especially in the twenty-thirty year old age range.

One issue that we could see this overlap in terms of us having a voice and embracing an opinion that embraces not only science but faith is the issue of ex-gay/reparative therapy. Being that conservatives have been at the forefront of policy and theological discussion for years and so many people have been hurt in terms of reparative therapy. Reparative therapy is something neither supported by science or rational theology, and it does not help the individual. Yet for Fundamentalist theology, being that LGBT is broken and in need of being fixed, whether it is by whatever methods, this therapy is deplorable. It is through avocation for dismissal of this practice that we can practice both these principles more fully. We are not only using a voice to advocate for the individual but also for the moderate and more progressive voice in general.

 The rise of the fundamentalist conservative church in the 20^th century was has a reactionary result to higher criticism and an increase in intellectual knowledge among clergy but also children going away to school in general. They reacted to this “modernism” by an increased reverence for inerrancy of scripture. The two points of view came to a boiling point during the Scopes Monkey Trial, where a teacher was tried for the teaching of evolution in public school. Although the man was found guilty, the case was thrown out on appeal, and fundamentalism was publically humiliated and ran into the sidelines, until the 1980’s where it once again crystallized in reaction to more secular pressures on not only scripture but family values. It was also through this rise that the Conservative voice became the assumed main component of the Christian faith, which then caused a major rise in “Spiritual but Not religious” in the 21^st century. Therefore, it is important that the progressive and moderate voice of the church continue to speak out on matters of importance. Not to concede our voice to the Fundamentalist/Religious Right.

Bibliography

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Reformation To The Present Day. New York; HarperOne Press, 2010

Lambert, Frank. Religion in American Politics: A Short History . Princeton, New Jersey; Princeton University Press, 2008.

Linder, Doug. Putting Evolution on the Defensive: William B. Riley and the Rise of Fundamentalism in America. Last modified 2005. Accessed on July 17, 2014, http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/Fundamentalism.html

Menzies, William W. 2011. “Nonwesleyan Pentecostalism: A Tradition of Influence in Fundamentalism.” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 14 issue 2: 199-211.

Moran, Jeffrey P. 2004.  “The Scopes Trial and Southern Fundamentalism in Black and White: Race, Region, and Religion.” Journal of Southern History 70 issue 1: 95-120

Jesus and the Fence in Laramie

Deaths in the public arena have always catapulted people into the spotlight in a very negative way. People often wonder why it has happened. Whether it was Jesus in Jerusalem, Matthew Shepherd in Laramie, The recent increase of LGBT hate crimes in New York, Lynchings of African Americans  in the Southern states in the 1960's,  all have a common feeling that comes from these incidents.Through all of these ordeals, emotions are a major driver. The three main discussions that are involved in this subject are fear, suffering, and most importantly, love.

Fear is the driving element that causes us to do things we often regret. One of these is Fear of the "other", fear that the other is not entitled to the same place in society that you already inhabit. People often say fear controls action. It is a very good point to remember. How many corporations profit off of our fear? How many organizations get huge chunks of money because you fear this other. More than one killer has got off because they supposedly felt threatened by a hoodie, by the supposed advances of a gay man (HINT:  JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE A HETEROSEXUAL MALE, EVERY HOMOSEXUAL MALE DOES NOT WANT YOU)

Fear is also experienced on the part of people being "targeted"/"profiled". This fear has caused more than one LGBT person act different out in public because they were scared of the actions of others. Whether it would be because they carry a pocketbook, or wear workboots instead of heels.

Through our fear and our actions because of our fear, we cause some suffering not only on ourselves but others. When we fear, we worry, when we worry we end up with hypertension ( or other problems) .When we worry more about ourselves, we don't love others and that protection instinct causes us to hurt others(a good bit of the Suffering in the world). The only way to conquer all of these emotions is LOVE

Love is important to any of these discussions on anything involving Christianity. Love is our driving force, not fear. Love is also the thing which helps us to stand our suffering. Love is what God commanded us to do, and reiterated through Jesus. I am reminded of these words from Alice Walker in " Love is Not Concerned" :

 Love is not concerned

with whom you pray

or where you slept

the night you ran away

from home.

Love is concerned

that the beating of your heart

should kill no one.

Matthew Shepherd 

The Lists.....

Last week's scripture was the story of Mary and Martha. In it, Jesus comes to dinner at Mary and Martha's house.It was the duty of the women in each house, to take care of all the house duties. Like was custom,Martha frantically prepares the bread, the meat and whatever else was on the variously prepared dishes that night. Mary, however, sits under the feet of Jesus, listening to him discuss whatever questions were asked of him this particular moment. As we all know, Martha in a fit, scolds Mary for not helping her with the busy tasks. Jesus then turns the tables on Martha, and tells her that those tasks never get done but that He will only be present for a short time....now that's the traditional synopsis of what the scripture has said.... TRADITIONALLY

Now let's make this story current. We all have these mile long lists that will never seem to get done because normally, items keep reappearing back on our lists that we just did yesterday. These lists grow because of societal standards/norms.  We always have to wash our dress shoes on Saturday if we are going out, because we have to. We always have to have clean socks on so we have to wash our clothes. We always have to have energy so therefore we have to cook and wash dishes after. We have to change the light bulbs so we can actually see what we are doing after the sun goes down. What Jesus is bringing up is actually a very basic idea. Time is a commodity we think we have a lot of, but in actuality, we don't. People have spent more there lives tolling away just working on their lists, and never got a thing done.

Therefore, we have to make time to live. To go for a walk and actually enjoy the sunshine on your face. You have to make time for the fun things in life. You have to make moments where you aren't scared of the next big and bad coming around the corner but the next big and really great good coming around the bend. We have to not only accept the upcoming bad, but also try to make it into a good if we can. Whether it be by hook or by crook. But the scary part is we have to be paying attention and never forget.

North Carolina, Florida, Texas (and many other states), are all in mists of crazy chaotic moments right now. We all legislators and governors who are bent on destroying the fundamentals of our society. They have been cutting everything from Pre-K programs, Safety nets for the poor, etc.

In other words, concentrate on a better List.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDxF5q0V9s

A Wide Table

"He hath showed you thee, o man, what is good: And do what The Lord requires of thee, but do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God" Micah 6.8 KJV 

Open or Closed are two big words in today's society. Open or Closed minds, Open or Closed books, Open Gates and Closed Fences are all phrases we continue to drop into our dialogue we engage in. Our collective "soul" as a whole is bigger than Conservative, Moderate and Liberal.

 This verse says a lot about how WE engage in our communities. Not just our faith communities, but school and work. Whether it is on the Unionizing of workers for equal pay and fair treatment or Marriage Equality. All conversations have the same basic elements. The space and two (or more) participants. Conversations are built on certain perimeters that either enable conversation or cause discussion to falter. Stuff that enables conversation are things like finding common ground, building bridges, etc. Stuff that disables communication are not doing those things which enable communication. Things like talking in different language and terms, etc. 

Love, mercy, and justice are often either found in discussions, or seeds of doubt (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), fear, anger, or hurt. The latter being the negative counterparts. 

There also ways to engage in community to either either grow the seeds of mistrust or grow the flowers of love. Some simple ways is actually hearing and listening at the same time. 

There are both conservative and liberal gardeners, conservative and liberal fence builders, conservative and liberal cooks/chefs. 

When we come to the Lord's Supper Table, we are not only opening ourselves to the great work of God. We open our hearts to all those we engage with in general. Our friends, our families, or significant others, all of which are connected to us in everyday life, but through our common "soul". We are not only our strongest parts, but also the weaker (voiceless) . The Voiceless among us would those who have lost there voice. The people who have sometimes been made mute by our statements, or the statements of society , or factions of society. 

May our actions and dialogue give everybody the room and ground to speak. Liberals and conservatives, orthodox and progressive, male and female, LGBT etc. 

Multiply the Love in Our Hearts

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things..... Love never fails" I Corinthians 13.4-8 (New King James Version) 

Love is serious topic these days. Love is one of those things that is very hard to even pin down on what it is. In modern day context, Love is something we give to not only our dog, our family, our lovers/significant others, but it is also something we give to brands that we can't live without. I have got to the point lately where I don't even like to say I love Reese's cups, or any other assorted brands of chocolate. In this modern day of Rugged individualism, there is definitely Not Enough Love in Our hearts.

Last week we made momentous strides in the area of Love and Justice. With the Supreme Court striking down section 4 of  DOMA (The Defense of Marriage Act) , using the Equal protection cause. Marriages of Same Sex couples in 14 states in the United States now have the same rights and protections. There is still much work to be done with the other 37 states that still have discrimination enshrined in their Laws or in their states' Constitutions (including North Carolina)....Maybe we can find Love in our hearts 

Also in North Carolina, July 1st was the start of dangerous time for many families within the borders of the 100 counties from the mountains to the beach. More than 70,000 unemployed instantly lost their benefits. These benefits were going to people who in most cases were still looking for work (and with three people applying to every one job). I bring up these people to illustrate that Love is not shown to our fellow man.......Maybe we can multiply the Love in our hearts 

As I noted in the scripture earlier, "Love never fails"........I know sometimes we get beat down by the ever present doubt in our humanity. Doubt that is also ever present in the world surrounding us. Love, however, blows doubt away. I end with a song from Joyful Noise 

Let us multiply the love in our hearts, not only toward our loved ones, but toward ourselves, and to the stranger who we don't know........ 

Amendment One and Peace in the Body of Christ

You can easily see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized. Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all Eye, how could it hear? If all Ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your own significance from getting blown up into self-importance or pride. For no matter how significant you are, you are only significant because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary it is. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part is dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body"-----I Corinthians 12.12-26(Message)

I know I haven't posted in a while...but after the day and week I have had, it kinda’ seems appropriate. This week and the next couple of weeks are going to be reasonably crazy, simply put. The first and MAIN reason is the primary election, and with that the constitutional amendment being considered. If you haven't heard about the Marriage Amendment or “Amendment 1” yet, it is pretty bad. In short, it states that the marriage of ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN is the only LEGAL DOMESTIC UNION recognized in the state of North Carolina. Proponents of the Amendment say it is to protect society from the perils of gay marriage <insert all of the standard arguments here>. If it was only that simple, I don't know what kind of response this Amendment would be receiving. Almost every group or organization is taking a stand on it, and it is pretty standard how they are lining up. On the proponents side, we have the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist, NOM, etc., etc. Basically, all of the fundamentalist Christians. Those of us against the Amendment are liberals, conservatives, Libertarians, etc. All of those against the Amendment are saying so because of several reasons.  I am sure 10,000 blogs have covered those points in detail. So I am moving on to other news......which relates to BIG chunk of information......

The first chunk of news came out yesterday. when on Facebook I noticed a video labeled "Man Films Himself Firing A Shotgun into Neighbor's Yard Sign Against Amendment One".  Apparently, a teenager from the Piedmont of NC took it upon himself to fire a shot gun into an Against Amendment One sign. Cops were called, the whole nine yards.  As I said, I am getting into a bigger point here, so I don't want to drone on and on about all of the details because I don't want to be to wordy.......(well any wordy then I have to be) .

The Second chunk of news came out earlier today when a minister's sermon from Marriage Sunday (some big deal the Proponents came up with to push parishioners to support the amendment. In it, he basically droned on for about 30 minutes according to reports, about a long list of stuff. The biggest chunk that grabbed everybody's attention was when he advocated violence against gay children.  To paraphrase, he said "If your little 4-year-old boy all of the sudden has a limp wrist, then you should pop that wrist". He also said if a little girl is "too butch" you should "rein her in".

The point I am trying to make here is that, in short, tensions are running high.  When you consider all of the items that are normally on everybody's list when in the midst of a a recession, pointing toward gay people and allies and doing violent acts and advocating for violent acts, is not the message you need to send. There are pretty much two factions in the church at this moment. There is the mainline denominations (which contains liberals and conservative), and in most cases liberal denominations. On the other side, you have more conservative and fundamentalist churches. If you look back in history, these two groups have been discussing issues since the beginning of time. Parts of the same body you could say have always argued on one matter or another. And from that body, there are 10000000s of individual cells, and from that our body is able to walk, talk, sing, and pray.. Our body is able to love, to reproduce, to be artistic. When you look at the individual cells, and individual body parts, each has a function and has capabilities of their own. In this paraphrase of Paul we see his words clearly. 

For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out?" As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary it tends to be. (21-24)

Every part of the body of Christ is important to the work of God, and not all Christians have to agree on every issue to get something done.  Certain denominations are great at some things, and others are great other things. Different denominations even disagree on what certain verses in the Bible even mean. I am not saying that to be critical, mind you. I am saying that say we are different. Opinions are great, everybody has them. I also believe we need to at least respect them, and allow them to exist, and not batter them, label them as "breaking-wrist offenses" or "rein them in offenses". Our children do not need to be exposed to that. A child should not be punished for who they are.

In closing, I pray that we will all live in the Peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding. And I want to close with a few lines from “You Can't Stop The Beat” from Hairspray the musical...

You can't stop today
As it comes speeding down the track
Child, yesterday is history
And it's never coming back
Cause tomorrow is a brand new day
And it don't know white from black

Let's us be happy to live in a world where all opinions matter and there is no black and white, gay and straight...Let us live as Paul inspired the Galatians to........

Pax et benedictus

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Coming Out

The month of October is a very special month, we have several reasons to start thinking not only about our collective community, but also our individual selves. October is the first month of Autumn, the early portions of the month are set aside to talk about the hazards and precautions associated with mostly Breast Cancers, secondly , other forms of Cancers. The mid portion of the month is associated with National Coming Out Day (the reason for my post), and the latter portion is associated with of course Halloween or All Hallow's Eve. With so many reasons to post in the month of October, I thought it would be my first priority to something to make us all think. Some of my posts, will be very political based , others will be theological based, others(I dare say, most) will be some where in the middle, this will be the first example of one where I am going to be speaking to the "whole" person, both scientifically, and theologically.

When looking at National Coming Out Day, not only do a large portion of people have to come out, not only as being supportive of the LGBT community, but also what has become known as the gay church, even more so in the African American community . It is important to think that not only do we come out, but Christ came out (some argue about when that technically was) in his own ministry(the office of Christ)  but it happened none the less.

The first group I would like to talk about in relation to National Coming Out Day is the actual reason that they came out with the day in general, LGBT people . I came out to my family two years ago, it was actually started nine months before National Coming Out Day, and was actually reaching it's culmination right in October. My story is not a short story, so therefore, to long to take up this post, but it took many years, and much analysis to actually not only figure out why but also how I am different. My story however is not an rarity. Psychologist/Counselor training programs are actually revising the number of how many people are LGBT from 10% to 15%. Whether it be lesbians or gays or transgenders, all of our population needs to be considered when making laws, and I am meaning that we are not discriminated against. That in the end, the rights of minority are NOT trampled upon by the majority, whether it be in the ballot box or the work place or the educational institutions. One also can not forget the actually sanctuaries. Another facet ( I don't want to even wager how big this facet is, but a facet nonetheless), are people who are on the DOWNLOW, whether it be for political or social reasons, or any other reason. Firstly, let me say, it is no help to either you or the people you are trying to protect, because it doesn't. Whether it is through the lying or through the possible spread of disease. This is worse even in the African American Community.

We as the people of God, have a very important place in terms of the creation, and by it, not only did Jesus, the savior of humanity not only live every desire, but also every feeling by being not only fully human but also fully God. When you look at the life of Our Lord and Savior , we can see Jesus not only coming out as Messiah but also the perfect sacrifice. There are two points in Christs life where I see Jesus coming "out" of the hidden in the bright light of the public. Those two points are Wedding at Cana and the Transfiguration. The most important one that actually  shows him coming out to me, is the Wedding at Cana. At this point in Christ's life, we see something very important to the time of Jesus but also to our culture, a wedding. Jesus is sitting at the table as a guest, and what happens, they run out of wine. From there we all know the story, Jesus is bade by his mother, to help with the situation, and Jesus at first says "The time is not yet at hand", but then he eventually does as his mother says and commands the servants to fill pitchers with water, which he turns into wine. This was Christ coming out, he officially steps from the quietness of obscurity into the spotlight of public and not only public life but also ministry. Not just the jews, but also the greeks and every other gentile, male and female. After this he spent a little more than three years traveling over the Israel countryside healing lepers, preaching the Gospel, and proclaiming the glory of the Lord.

Like Christ did two thousand  eleven years ago, the church is also in the middle of a coming out process. Some parts of the body of Christ fully support full inclusion of their LGBT brothers and Sisters, others are on a journey of acceptance, others stand at the door like the armed gaurds in Alabama in pre-Civil Rights south. The United Church of Christ, the Metropolitan Community Church, the Affirming Pentecostal International, and countless others are leading the charge for FULL LGBT inclusion in all facets of the Body of Christ. Other churches, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Presbyterians are making transitions in acceptance. Unfortunately there are still those who stand at the door. My prayer is that those who stand at the door will listen to the testimony of US, the people who in most cases have been part of their communion table since they were young, and thrown out, not because of something they "chose" as some would believe, that is as natural as eye color and height and many other traits that are not chosen by the individual.

Peace and blessings on this National Coming Out Day,